To insulate the foundations of new homes, new thermal and moisture-insulating systems have been developed. In one such system, high-density fiberglass boards or sheets are attached to the foundation and then coated with a high solids, relatively viscous aqueous acrylic emulsion-based coating. Upon drying, the acrylic emulsion-based coating forms a cured, relatively thick (e.g. 40 mils, ˜1 mm) acrylic resin layer or coating.
In cold or humid weather, preliminary cure of such acrylic resin coatings, i.e., drying and curing of the coating enough to resist degradation by rain (“wash off”) or physical contact (“brush off”), can take two days or longer. Acrylic emulsions are commonly stabilized with anionic surfactants, which are rendered ineffective when pH drops below about 7. Accordingly, it has already been proposed to speed preliminary cure by contacting the still-wet coating with dilute aqueous hydrochloric acid. This causes the emulsion at the surface of the coating to break and a solidified “skin” of acrylic resin to form at this surface, this “skin” being strong and stable enough to prevent wash off and brush off of the remainder of the still-wet and uncured coating.
Although effective, HCl treatments are problematic because noxious HCl gas is liberated when the HCl treating solution evaporates. Therefore, there is a need for a new treatment system which eliminates this problem and, preferably, provides a stronger resin “skin” during preliminary cure.